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By the outbreak of the Civil War, most of Stafford’s mines were owned by Northern capitalists who went home at the beginning of hostilities. The mines were located in a remote area and most of the employees were locals well familiar with the lay of the land and the locations of the gold deposits. Historians…

Stafford’s most productive mine was Eagle, also known at various times as the Rappahannock Gold Mine, which operated from before 1833 to around 1897. By 1847, it was operated by the Virginia Gold Belt Company of Philadelphia who changed the name from Rappahannock to Eagle Gold Mine. By 1850, it was owned by Bettle Paul…

From 1800 to the present there have been approximately 245 gold mines in Virginia. The New Yorker newspaper (June 2, 1838) reported that, in 1831, the “weekly product of the [Virginia] mines was then about $100,000 in value, or $5,000,000 annually. But a small part of the gold is sent to the U. S. mint;…

In 1782 a 0.85-ounce gold nugget was discovered on the north side of the Rappahannock River near Little Falls plantation in Stafford County. Thomas Jefferson wrote of this in his Notes on Virginia, “I know a single instance of gold found in this state. It was interspersed in small specks in a lump of ore,…

Historian Eric Foner, in his Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877 (1988), wrote: “Revising interpretations of the past is intrinsic to the study of history. But no part of the American experience has, in the last twenty-five years, seen a broadly accepted point of view so completely overturned as Reconstruction – the violent, dramatic, and still…

Led by historian William Dunning (Reconstruction, Political and Economic, 1907), this interpretation can be summarized as: “When the Civil War ended, the white South genuinely accepted the reality of military defeat, stood ready to do justice to the emancipated slaves, and desired above all a quick reintegration into the fabric of national life. Before his…

Created in the U. S. War Department on March 3, 1865, the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, under Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, it was originally intended to assist postwar poor whites and freed enslaved people in the defeated South. Its most controversial actions naturally related to social, political and economic integration of…

This is a drawing of a pontoon bridge train on the road.  These trains were brought from Washington and traveled overland south toward Stafford.  At the Occoquan River, the water was too high, so they transferred the pontoons and horses to ships to complete the trip.  Part of the delay was due to the necessity…

Commodore Nutt, pictured on the left, visited Stafford and helped review the troops with Lincoln.  Nutt was no stranger to Lincoln.  Nutt came to fame when P.T. Barnum hired him in 1862 to be a performer at his New York and Florida museum.  Nutt was best man for Tom Thumb’s wedding which was held in…

During the “Valley Forge” Period, General Hooker had the men eating good food, wearing new uniforms and boots, drilling, and showing pride in their units.  The Union Army’s “Valley Forge” ended on April 27, 1863 with the beginning of the Chancellorsville Campaign (battles of Second Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Salem Church). Although again ending in defeat,…

Hooker’s most significant reform was the creation of the Army of the Potomac’s Cavalry Corps. Combining all cavalry elements in the army into a single large organization of 17,000 men and horses, dramatically increased the operational possibilities. The Cavalry Corps could fight as a single unit, conduct large scale raids, or fight with individual divisions…

This photo is a studio image of a Sharpshooter in full regalia, including leather leggings, a fur covered knapsack, and a special hat.  Notice he is still armed with a Colt Revolving Rifle.